"I have always heard how brave Dong Hou's men are, but now I see that they are not worthy of their reputation. They only lost for a while, so they closed the gate tightly and did not dare to go to war."

"Dong Zhuo spent half his life in the army, how can he be a person who has wasted his reputation?"

Lu Li is quite talented in barbecue. When Deputy Lieutenant Zhang Jing was out on inspection, he roasted a lamb leg until it was golden and tender.

On the side, Zhang Yang was also roasting a leg of lamb. He was holding the leg bone with one hand and spreading salt with the other. He asked casually: "How is Dong Hou's camp going?"

It only took half a day from the emperor of Hangu Pass to the leader of the army to serve as an envoy. However, Zhang Jing adapted well and immediately handed over his hand and replied: "It is very crude. No trenches were dug or high walls were built. It was just set up

There were some rejections.”

"How's the alert?"

"There was probably a group of cavalry scattered outside. They found that we went to investigate and did not pursue us. We just kept shouting and cursing, and the language was extremely weird. We were not Han Han, but we were not bullshit."

Zhao Yun nodded. Just as he expected, Dong Zhuo did not intend to stay at the pass for a long time, so the camp was set up in such a simple way——

For a veteran like Dong Zhuo, if he really wanted to camp and rest, he would definitely build high walls and dig trenches, because this is the most basic common sense.

"It's not peaceful tonight." Zhang Jing looked at the roasted lamb leg in Lu Li's hand, swallowed again, and said to himself: "The Xiliang army is all veterans, and they are best at night fighting..."

The temperature of the charcoal fire was just right, and the lamb leg was sizzling with oil. Lu Li poured half a pot of wine given by the Young Emperor on it to prevent it from becoming fishy.

In addition, there are Parthian fennel, pepper, flax, and various precious spices for seasoning. Frankly speaking, Zhang Jing has never seen such a luxurious way of eating. Even if his uncle is Zhang Rang, he has seen a lot of things in the world.

.

Lu Li's five senses were far beyond those of ordinary people, so he naturally noticed that a line of sight was always falling on his hand.

"Gu..."

Halfway through, a subtle but continuous sound came from Zhang Jing's belly. Fortunately, his face was already rosy and he couldn't tell what it was.

"Sit down and eat together."

Not long ago, he publicly killed the guarding captain who disobeyed orders to scare the soldiers. Now, he easily won a challenge and all his goals were achieved. There was no need for Lu Li to maintain any dignity anymore and he just cut off a piece of roasted meat.

.

"Thank you General for the reward."

Hearing this, Zhang Jing didn't hesitate. After saying thank you, he quickly sat down cross-legged, took out the dagger from his arms, and gathered around Zhao Yun, Lu Li and others.

Obviously, he was also hungry. He chewed half of a fat and tender lamb leg in a short time until only the bones were left. After eating, he looked at Lu Li eagerly and stopped talking.

"Bake it yourself."

"The Mianchi County Magistrate specially ordered twenty sheep to be slaughtered for army rations and put them over there."

After saying that, Lu Li pointed behind him. After a small battle, he also needed to replenish his energy to cope with the fierce battle that followed.

When Zhang Jing went to get the mutton, Zhang Yang turned to the two people next to him and said: "It seems that General Lu's prediction was correct. The vanguard of the Xiliang Army was defeated for a while, which indeed made Dong Zhuo put away his arrogance. But he didn't know

Which general will be sent to challenge next?"

"Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, Zhang Ji, Xu Rong, when I was in Bingzhou in the past, I often heard the Qiang people talk about these people. I think they are not too weak."

However, unlike Zhang Yang, Lu Li felt that he might have to fight Hua Xiong in the next round——

Hu Zhen died in the battle, Zhang Heng returned in defeat, and Dong Jun's morale was greatly reduced. In order to save face and morale, Dong Zhuo would definitely send out elite soldiers and generals at night.

And Hua Xiong was undoubtedly a military general who was underestimated by later generations. He only talked about the four coalition generals who died under his sword in the battle of Hulao Pass:

Bao Zhong, Zu Mao, Yu She, Pan Feng.

Bao Zhong was the younger brother of Bao Xin, Prime Minister of Jibei Province. He once confronted Hua Xiong in front of Sishui Pass, but was killed on the spot as a result of his sword being used to cut off the gold ingot.

Since this person died as soon as he appeared, no one knows how strong he is. After all, there is no reference. But Zu Mao is different. He is a powerful general under Sun Jian, the Jiangdong Tiger. Together with Han Dang, Cheng Pu,

Huang Gai was as famous as Huang Gai. After his death, the remaining three people became the first-class warriors of Soochow in later generations. They could sneak attack Hua Xiong from the forest and gain the upper hand, but they were still killed by a knife.

As for Yu She, he is also not worth mentioning. Like Bao Zhong, he will die immediately when he appears. Lu Li believes that he should be similar to the Yellow Turban general Pei Yuanshao.

Finally, General Pan Feng is also controversial. Some people think he is weak and does not match the title of general. Others think he is very strong, including Lu Li.

Since ancient times, Hebei has been a place where famous generals have emerged. Since Han Fu said boldly in front of the other seventeen princes, "I have General Pan Feng, who can kill Hua Xiong", it means that General Pan Feng's reputation does not have much water, otherwise

Why didn't other generals from Hebei speak out to expose it?

Tonight, let’s meet Hua Xiong for Mr. Guan!

After thinking for a long time, Lu Li simply stopped thinking and continued to eat barbecue and recharge his batteries. He understood that no matter who Dong Zhuo sent for the second injection, he would personally fight and kill them.

Ten miles away, Dong Zhuo and his three sons-in-law came to the camp gate and climbed up to overlook Hangu Pass in the distance.

Niu Fu looked at the continuous fire in the distance, and for a while he couldn't figure out how many defenders were hiding there. Did they really need so many campfires for cooking, or were they just bluffing.

Duke saw his father-in-law was silent, as were Li Ru and Niu Fu. He also maintained this tacit understanding, but thought in his heart: Who is the captain stationed at Hangu Pass? Is he a familiar face?

According to Zhang Heng's description: He is extraordinary in military prowess, good at using iron horses and halberds, he is of a young age, and he is seven feet six inches tall.

One name after another came to mind, and then one after another was rejected. You must know that they have lived in this world for a whole year, and their temperament and body shape will change, but from beginning to end, Duke never thought of Lu Li——

He is probably in Qiao County, Peiguo, with the Cao family and the Xiahou family, or else he is staying with Cao Mengde and hanging around in the same circle as Yuan Shao.

At this time, Dong Zhuo raised his hand and stroked the handle of the knife, looking into the distance in ecstasy, still silent.

There was no expression. Dong Zhuo's mood was very stable. He was standing on the high platform and pacing slowly. He no longer had the excitement of scolding Fang Qiu in the big tent, nor the warmth of discussing family matters at the dinner table, but there should be many complicated emotions.

Intertwined.

After all, he must be thinking about something after not speaking for so long.

Behind him, Duke suppressed all kinds of distracting thoughts and speculated on his father-in-law's thoughts. Some of them were easy to think of, while others were not.

For example, there must be worries about the future. I thought that my ally Yuan Wei would take care of everything, but ended up stopping outside Hangu Pass.

However, based on Duke's understanding of his father-in-law, he believed that even if the flying general Lu Bu personally sat on the opposite side, the Flying Bear Army would eventually pass through Hangu Pass.

At this moment, Dong Zhuo is still the Marquis of Zhuxiang who has spent half his life in the military. He has not yet been dazzled by the prosperity of Luoyang. With his sophisticated mind, he probably has already imagined various possibilities and come up with countermeasures before setting off, without even having to be reminded by his advisers.

That's the plan.

"Who do you think is the safest person to send to fight?"

At this moment, Dong Zhuo suddenly stood still and turned to look at the three people behind him.

"Father-in-law and son-in-law, if we ask for a fight, we will definitely wash away the shame." Niu Fu has a straightforward personality and took the lead in expressing his stance without even thinking.

Duke followed closely, his tone full of confidence: "I am willing to go with Niu Fu."

After struggling for a long time, he decided to go to Hangu Pass to have a look in person.

Dong Zhuo looked at Niu Fu deeply, but did not answer. In fact, he knew the abilities of his three sons-in-law:

Niu Fu is loyal but lacks ability.

Duke knows things well and has extraordinary fighting prowess, but his words and actions are always a little out of tune, garrulous and lacking in experience.

Only Li Ru is impeccable in terms of ability and loyalty.

Seeing his father-in-law glance at him, Li Ru, who had the draft in mind, cupped his hands and said: "I had a hexagram with Wen He before, and the hexagrams were the same. The sky indicated that we shouldn't act on our impulses."

Dong Zhuo nodded without interrupting.

"Either we don't fight tonight and stay away from the enemy for a while, or we send out powerful generals in the army to destroy everything."

After saying that, Li Ru once again thought about who should be sent to challenge:

In terms of stability, Xu Rong is undoubtedly the best candidate. His commanding ability is first-rate and he is proficient in various battle formations. However, his force is slightly inferior. If he falls, his morale will be damaged.

When it comes to ruthlessness, Li Jue definitely ranks first. He built temples in Beijing, hung corpses for public display, and did anything that harmed Tianhe. The name "Butcher" was widely circulated within the Xiliang Army, and his use of force was naturally ranked first.

The top number.

[Li, two Li fires overlap each other, and the top and bottom are transparent. The fire has energy but is invisible, which means the main meaning is unreal and uncertain]

I'm afraid we'll lose in the second round, so it's not appropriate to send out veterans with too great reputations. Suddenly, Li Ru's mind moved and he thought of the most suitable candidate.

Just then Dong Zhuo asked: "Who are the candidates?"

"Hua Xiong." Li Ru said firmly.

He is brave and brave, and although he has a vague attitude of coming from behind, his qualifications are still relatively young.

Dong Zhuo pondered for a moment and then ordered, "In this case, send my military order to Zijian and ask him to lead 300 heavy cavalry to challenge the enemy outside Hangu Pass."

The reason why we only sent 300 cavalry is because the cavalry is not good at attacking cities, so there is no point in going more and less.

In addition, this operation is to make up for the mistakes committed by Hu Zhen and Zhang Heng——

Challenge failed.

"Yi Zhou Shu·Ke Yin": Three hundred and fifty Zhou chariots were sent to Muye, and Emperor Xin followed. King Wu sent Shang Fu and Bo Fu to the division.

Kong Chao's note: To be a teacher is to challenge.

When two armies meet, challenging in front of the formation is a very common practice that has been going on since ancient times.

That is, a small number of warriors are sent to the enemy's formation to clamor, demanding that the enemy send an equal number of generals to fight a fair duel with them.

Although this is less harmful, it is of great significance, because both warring parties are aiming to gain the upper hand and gain the upper hand.

For Dong Zhuo, who had been defeated for a while, he could not lose again. This battle must avenge his previous humiliation.
To be continued...